Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: My parents aren’t musicians but they are music lovers, so during my childhood I’ve always been surrounded by music, although it was mostly commercial pop. We had a piano, so that was my starting point, then came clarinet, drums and guitar. My aha moment was when I saw a music video on TV of “an emerging band from Los Angeles named Guns ‘n’ Roses, playing ‘Sweet Childe O’Mine’”. It was the summer of 1988 and I decided to get serious on guitar like “the guy with the big black hat”.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “BlueMelt”?
A: I don’t think I have a proper plan, as an independent artist I’m pretty flexible and still learning. First and foremost, I want to make the music I like and not the one that’s trendy at the moment. Nowadays social media are the way to reach a wider audience, but I also like the old ways of playing strategic live shows to bring the music directly to the audience. To anyone who is about to discover BlueMelt I say “It may not be what you expected, but you may end up liking it”.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: The most important artist for me is always changing. Right now I’m very much into Marty Friedman and Kiko Loureiro, from both musical and attitude perspectives. I can find inspiration pretty much anywhere, from guitar exercises (e.g. “Close Enough”), conversations with friends (e.g. “Another Glass Of Red”), articles on the news (e.g. “Glass Towers”), books (e.g. “Fading”) or other artists’ works like for “Stardust On Your Dress”.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Stardust On Your Dress.”?
A: I wanted it to be upbeat with a chorus that makes you smile and relax, like I do when I play it. The inspiration came from guitar hero Paul Gilbert’s “Fuzz Universe” album, in which most of the songs have one main guitar part that guides the listener through the whole song. Underneath that guitar there is bass and drums, sometimes a rhythm guitar but nothing too fancy. As for the production sound, I wanted to recreate the atmosphere of the first Van Halen album… minus the shred.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: I always say rock/hard rock as a focus point. Then, depending on the song, it may be softer, harder or simply different. The latest single is classic rock, the previous one, “Fading”, is more of a Billy Idol/cyberpunk style, “Glass Towers”, is very much djent oriented with quite a bit of shredding.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Stardust On Your Dress”?
A: The major challenge in writing was finishing the last quarter of the song, possibly with a solo that wasn’t the usual shredding virtuosity, it took months. The recording was straightforward but mixing and mastering have been challenging because I was experimenting outside my comfort zone.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: I’d like to see each song as a short story with its little fictional world, which is totally in the head of the reader/listener and has the power to make them feel relaxed, excited, or any other positive feeling. As an artist, my main goals are to produce more music, both alone and in collaboration with other artists. Also, I’d like to bring the music live, possibly with a band, but I’m not in a hurry.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Slash (the guy with the big black hat).
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: As a general advice, I would say whatever you do don’t forget to have fun doing it, and don’t be afraid of learning new things and step out of your comfort zone. More specifically, for my experience, I see that many people I know that have a career in music do a few things in parallel to their main artist project, for example teaching, running a record label or recording studio, or even a “standard” day job that could be in music or in something else. As for me, I enjoy my main day job as a software engineer and I see it as my patron. It gives me creative freedom to do what I like and not necessarily what “sells better”. And I discovered that a few of my “heroes” are doing it the same.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: Move to Los Angeles, buy Bitcoins as soon as they come out.
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